"We
few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds
his blood with me shall be my brother"

35th Infantry RegimentWorld War II

"Not For Fame or Reward
Not For Place or For Rank
But In Simple Obedience To
Duty as They Understood It"

The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, PFC Dale W. Ross, who died in the service of his country on January 13th, 1943 in Guadalcanal. The cause of death was listed as MIA/KIA. At the time of his death Dale was 22 years of age. He was from Jackson County, Oregon.

The decorations earned by PFC Dale W. Ross include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

Dale William Ross was born on June 30, 1920 in North Dakota in the United States to parents William H. Ross and Mabel Viola Ross (née Warren). He was the third of four children: Charles Irvin Ross born in 1915, Clifford Elmer Ross "Cliff" born 1918, Dale W. Ross born 1920 and Calvin A. Ross born 1923. The family moved to Ashland in Jackson County in southern Oregon. Dale graduated Ashland High School where he was a cross country runner, had a steady girlfriend and was employed on a farm prewar.
During World War II, all four Ross brothers served in the military. Charles and Calvin joined the U. S. Navy. Clifford and Ross joined the U. S. Army.
On April 9, 1942 Ross enlisted in the U. S. Army as a private serial number 39307184. After recruit training in Monterey, California he was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division "Tropic Lighting", 35th Infantry Regiment "Cacti", Company E. Ross was sent to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. He participated in the Battle of Mount Austen.
On January 14, 1943 while advancing along the west slope of Hill 27 south of The Gifu near Mount Austen, Pfc was reported as Killed In Action (KIA). He was not seen after an engagement with a small Japanese patrol when shots were heard in the vicinity in which he was last seen. He was officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA).
On March 1, 1943 his mother, Mabel V. Ross received a War Department telegram that reported her son as "missing in action on Guadalcanal". On November 3, 1943 she wrote the adjutant General in Washington DC stating that she had received no further information about her son and requested his personal effects, then again on September 15, 1944. It is unclear if anything was ever returned to the family.
After the fatal engagement, a prolonged search was made for Private Ross, but no trace of him was found. Postwar, his MIA case was numbered AGRS-PAZ Case No. 7-1687. On February 9, 1949 a team from American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) Search and Recovery Expedition #2 (S&R Expedition #2) visited Honiara and sought the help of U.K. Commissioner of Labor Mr. Mitten who furnished the team with a guide named Totiole who took them to Mount Austen where they engaged Solomon Islander chief Baranba unsuccessfully searched "Mt. Austen down to the Matanikau River, but no identifying equipment or remains could be found in the entire area on the western slope." Unable to find any trace of Ross, AGRS recommended his case be closed on May 4, 1949. To this day, Ross remains listed as Missing In Action (MIA)on the Tablets of Missing, Manila Cemetery.
Associated Press | 18 Aug 2017 | by Chris Carola
ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York military aviation researcher got more than she bargained for on a dream trip to a battle-scarred South Pacific island — the chance to help solve the mystery of an American soldier listed as missing in action from World War II.
Donna Esposito, who works at the Empire State Aero Sciences Museum in upstate Glenville, visited Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands this spring and was approached by a local man who knew of WWII dog tags and bones found along a nearby jungle trail. The man asked if Esposito could help find relatives of the man named on the tags: Pfc. Dale W. Ross.
After she returned home, Esposito found that Ross had nieces and nephews still living in Ashland, Oregon. A niece and a nephew accompanied Esposito on her late July return to Guadalcanal, where they were given his dog tags and a bag containing the skeletal remains.
Although its not certain yet the remains are the missing soldier, the nephew who made the Guadalcanal trip is confident there will be a match.